I am a newly qualified teacher from Canada. I have a Master of Teaching degree which certifies me to teach in Ontario. I want to get some ESL teaching experience in the Middle East because of the lucrative opportunities it will offer but I don't know where to start. I don't have post-qualification teaching experience which I know disqualifies me from most jobs in the Middle East.

For teachers currently teaching in KSA, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, what advice would you give to new teachers? Where is a good place to start to build those 4 year experience to land those jobs?

It's unclear if you're looking to teach children or adults. Anyway, do you have any teaching experience? If so, what did it entail and where was it? Also, did your degree program include a teaching practicum? If not, do you have a TEFL cert (e.g., CELTA or equivalent cert)?

Oops, thanks for pointing that out. I am a primary school trained teacher. I completed two practicums and an internship accruing to 7 months teaching experience. I'm hoping to stick to teaching ESL at primary school level. I hope this clarifies my situation.

Go to teachaway.com to see what requirements are needed for international/k-12 schools in this region and for other parts of the world. And yes, you're right; for the Gulf, you'll generally need 2 years of experience post-teaching license. However, if you're willing to give Egypt a look, check out the thread, "How are things in Cairo these days?" (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=98598).

But in answer to your question about starting out, Asia (usually China and Korea) seems to be where newbies first gain their experience before coming to this part of the world. Another option would be to stay in Canada, build a couple of years of teaching experience there, and then head abroad.

The problem - and it is both real and all too common - is that there are employers that will hire anyone who is breathing. The catch is that the pay will be low, the benefits will be elusive (ie disappear into the pockets of the school owners), the management will be both inept and often abusive, and the worst students and parents will be the ones who run the show and decide your future. This is what the warnings are trying to help new teachers avoid.

It is a part of the world where bad employers are particularly bad. To get the decent jobs you need to be able to tick the boxes the better employers want - a particular degree - certification - related experience.

That said, many dive in with their eyes open and spend a year or two collecting data for that retirement novel. But best to make sure that they know what they are getting into and whether there may be better options to get experience.

Joined: 14 Feb 2013Posts: 18Location: Somewhere in the great wide open

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 2:42 am Post subject:

I'd almost be inclined to say that this is not the place to get initial experience. Like VS said, the bad employers here are particularly bad. On the flip side, you might get lucky and get a good employer. However, without a couple years of experience, you'd be scraping the bottom of the barrel in many cases.

If you go with a bad employer, you will probably be taken advantage of in one way or another. Pay will often be around half of what ADEC or international school teachers will get, hours will be long, you'll probably take work home, and you might have a commute. I know of several teachers here who do not have air conditioning or hot water either, so you run the risk of sub-standard housing as well. That being said, you might NOT run into this problem. Nothing is for certain here.

In terms of recruiters...

Search Associates, for example, hires for international schools worldwide, but most of those schools have a huge "Wish List" for teachers, including several years teaching experience, IB experience, and international teaching experience. It's a VERY competitive market.

Teach Away hires for Abu Dhabi public (ADEC) and private schools as well as Dubai somewhat. They also deal with hiring for multiple other countries. That's who I got hired through, and they were great. However, I've been hearing that they are upping their requirements and not letting anyone with less than 2 years teaching experience through anymore (cannot confirm this however).

I would highly recommend getting your initial years of experience in Asia. It still counts for ADEC, and if you work with adults, it will help open doors for you as well. The kids here can be rough (unmotivated, very low English leading to misunderstandings, vague curriculum, no resources) and you gotta have good classroom management skills to keep them sitting down for more than 5 minutes at a time. This is something that I'm still working on but getting better every day. Just make sure that, if you do come, you know that you are getting yourself into a crapshoot of possibilities!